Local brands doing a better job than international ones at appreciating Singapore consumers

Anuradha Shukla |
April 28, 2017

Twice as many Singaporean respondents of ICLP's survey consider themselves to be in a 'devoted' relationship with local brands as those with global brands.

Credit: GraphicStock

More shoppers in Singapore appreciate home-grown brands as compared to the international brands, according to a survey by ICLP.

Almost a third (32 percent) of the respondents in Singapore expects local brands to show appreciation for their regular patronage, and about 35 percent expect the same of international brands.

More than a quarter (26 percent) of the respondents said local brands actually deliver on this count, as opposed to 19 percent for international brands.

Besides that, 22 percent of Singaporean consumers expect local brands to listen to them, and 20 percent feel that they actually do. For international brands, the two metrics lie at 26 percent and 19 percent respectively.

As such, the survey found twice as many Singaporean consumers considering themselves to be in a 'devoted' relationship with local brands (4 percent) as those with global brands (2 percent).

"In this digital era, brands need to communicate with consumers, to listen to what they want," said Bruno Tay, Country Manager of ICLP. "On this scale, local brands appear to fare better because of their deeper resonance, but this could also be because global brands have not seized the opportunity to establish stronger local relevance with customers in their product offerings, communications, and campaigns."

The survey also found that when it comes to utilising customers' personal data, there is a shortfall of 7 percent for both international and local brands against customers' expectation of getting something in return for sharing such personal data.

"We've observed that despite the international brands' global recognition and resources, they are not seen to be leveraging those resources any better than local retailers in recognising individual consumers for their loyalty," added Tay. "Both local and international brands need to make better use of the data they are collecting from customers - by finding ways to lend a personal touch to each customer and offering tailored promotions and services that lie within the appropriate contexts in the customer journey."